Festival N°6
Festival N°6 is an annual art and music festival held at Portmeirion, Wales. The festival presents a wide range of music genres, including rock and roll, folk, house, techno and dance. It can be qualified as a family festival, as specific places are organized to welcome whole families, as No.6’s Mischief Meadow[1] for children and a designated family camping area. Working with 'Attitude is Everything', the festival is also adapted to disabled people.[2]
| Portmeirion | |
 Overview of the central plaza |
|
  Portmeirion |
|
| OS grid reference | SH593376 |
|---|---|
| Community | Penrhyndeudraeth |
| Principal area | Gwynedd |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | North Wales |
| Fire | North Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
Coordinates: 52°55′04″N 4°05′35″W / 52.91778°N 4.09293°W
History
The first event took place in 14 September 2012[3] where around 6500 persons attended the festival.[4] The success of this event encouraged the organizers to recreate the festival in 2013 and to plan it for 2014.
Village of Portmeirion
The festival takes place in the North of Wales in the village of Portmeirion on the Snowdonia coast in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The village location is composed of many edifices inspired by the artchitecture of an Italian coastal town. Portmeirion village was built between 1925 and 1978 by the architect Sir Clough Williams Ellis.[5] The festival takes place throughout the village, with the main music events located in adjacent fields; the typical Italian infrastructures show an atypical side of Portmeirion village which is part of the festival atmosphere. The music events and activities range from the Colonnade Gardens to the River Dwyryd, from the Tanglewoods to the beach.[6]
The Prisoner
The origin of the festival's name based on the cult TV show The Prisoner, which was filmed largely on location at Portmeirion. This famous British television series of the 1960s is composed of 17 episodes. The main character is called "Number 6", and was played by the actor Patrick McGoohan. In the series, Number 6 is a secret agent held as a prisoner in a mysterious coastal village. This TV show is iconic of the village and made it famous internationally. The character "Number 6" embodies a free thinking spirit, an ideal adopted by the festival.
Art, culture and activities
The N°6 Festival includes various activities apart from music of all genres. Art and culture are an integral part of it. The festival incorporates a wide range of arts and cultural activities to complement the music events. These include:
- Readings with John Niven, Caitlin Moran, Paul Morley etc.
- Talks with John Cooper Clark, Stuart Maconie etc.
- Poetry with Joe Dunthorne etc.
All these artists were present at Festival N°6 in Portmeirion in 2012.
More than 50 renowned individuals, (including journalists, writers, poets, and broadcasters) have participated to animate activities via literature and talks.
Comedy is also included at the N°6 Festival. For example, in 2012 Duncan Oackley, Mick Ferry, Steve Royle and more.
The festival also includes a range of participative activities to complement the mainstream music events and develop differentiation from other music festivals. These have included, for example : 'Giant Mind', 'Urban Sketching', and 'Extraordinary Bubbles'...[7]
"Festival No. 6, Britain's most unusual music gathering, imprisons New Order and Primal Scream in Portmeirion" said GQ magazine[8]
Here is N°6 Festival in a few figures :
| N°6 Festival's Dates | 3 days in September each year |
| People expected | More than 10.000 |
| Artists expected | More than 100 |
Artists
Since 2012 Festival N°6 hast hosted more than 200 musical artists and many other various artists that performed at different locations, playing comedy, talks or performance art. The 2012 edition on 14, 15 and 16 September, was in partnership with Electric Elephant Festival. The second edition of the festival was on 13, 14 and 15 September 2013. The line-up for 5, 6 and 7 September 2014 is not available yet. Artists that performed during the two first years included:
| Year | Musical artists | Other artists |
| 2012 | François Kevorkian, Erol Alkan, MR.Scruff, Derrick Carter, Sean Johnston, Jerry Dammers, Don Letts, Optimo, Luke Solomon, Daniele Baldelli, Harri & Domenic, PBR Streetgang, Kelvin Brown, Will Tramp, Jonny Trunk, Mike Pickering, Sophie Lloyd, Jon Carter, Dub Pistols Soudsystem, Good Sport, Blonde Ambition, Paradise 45, Pete Hebert, Andrea Trout, New Order, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Richard Hawley, Gruff Rhys, British Sea Power... | Caitlin Moran (Literature and talks), Phil Jupitus (Comedy), Jan Morris (Literature and talks), Marcus Brigstocke (Comedy), Stuart Maconie (Literature and talks), Propagating Dan (Woodland trails), Andrew Maxwell (Comedy), Simon Day (Literature and talks), Tony Law (Comady), Evie Wyld (Literature and talks, Wade McElwain (Comedy)... |
| 2013 | James Blake, My Bloody Valentine, Manic Street Preachers, Jagwar Ma, Mount Kimbie, Johnny Marr, Frankie Knuckles, Norman Jay, Carl Craig, Andrew Weatherall, Daniel Avery, Daddy G, Geraint Jarman, David Holmes and Andy Votel, Bryn Fôn, Justin Robertson, Crazy P Soudsystem, Horse Meat Disco, Mark Thomas, Seann Walsh, Clinic, Caitlin Rose, Wire, Stuart Maconie, Tricky, Caitlin Moran... | The Brythoniaid male voice choir (Special performances), Joe Duddell (Special performances), John Cooper Clark (Literature and talks), DBC Pierre (Literature and talks), Paul Morley (Literature and talks), Bob Stanley (Literature and Talks), John Niven (Literature and talks), Joe Dunthorne (Literature and talks), Viv Groskop (Literature and talks)... |
Accommodation
Tickets are sold the year preceding the event on the Festival N°6 website. During the event, Portmeirion's village offers visitors a limited availability of accommodation in the village itself. Visitors also have the possibility to make a reservation in hotels, bunk houses, cottages, camper vans, yurts, tipis and tents.[9] One of the organizers at Portmeirion, Meurig Jones, stated that 10 000 people were the average number of persons expected at the festival, due to the size of the village.[4] The majority of accommodation is in campsites adjacent to the village and music locations.
References
- ↑ "We Welcome Families… – Festival Number 6". Thenotebook.festivalnumber6.com. 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ "General Info | Tickets & Info". Festival Number 6. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ "Festival Number 6 à Portmeirion (Porthmadog) le 14 sept. 2012 – Last.fm". Lastfm.fr. 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "BBC News - 10,000 expected for second Festival No.6 at Portmeirion". Bbc.co.uk. 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ Polly March. "Blogs - Wales - Festival Number 6 hopes to build on last year's runaway success". BBC. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ Emma Mills (2013-09-12). "Festival Number 6: Six acts to watch in Portmeirion this weekend | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ "Arts & Culture". Festival Number 6. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ Gale, Lee (2012-09-26). "The Number Six Festival at Portmeirion, Wales 2012: Review - GQ.COM (UK)". Gq-magazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
- ↑ "Accommodation". Festival Number 6. Retrieved 2014-02-04.